Improvement in making horse-collars



UNITED STATES PATENT OTEICEn i T. W. MURPHEY, OF NEW EGYPT, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN MAKING HORSE-COLLARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 51,34 l, dated December5, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THEoDoRE W. MUR- PHEY, of New Egypt, in the countyof Ocean and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and ImprovedApparatus for Making Harness- Collars for Horses; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use thesaine, reference bein g had to the accompan yin g drawings, forming partof this speeitieation.

rlhe present invention consists in a novel arrangement of devices in andby which a liarness-collar for horses can be with great dispatch,facility, and ease stuffed or filled with any of the ordinarymaterialssuch as hay, straw, Ste-used therefor, while, at the same time,the collar is held with the requisite degree of tension, it beingaccomplished within a very short time and before the leather of whichthe collar-casing is iliade can become dry, the advantages of which areself-evident to all conversant with their manufacture.

In accompanying plate of drawings my iinprovements are illustrated,Figure 1 being a side elevation of the apparatus in position for beingused; Fig. 2, a transverse section of the same, taken in the plane ofthe line x x, Fig. 3, which is a central Vertical section taken in thedirection ot' its length and the plane of the line y y, Fig. 2.

a a in the drawings represent the frame or bench of the apparatussupported by two legs, b b, on its center, and when in position restingat one end, c, upon the ground or iioor of the room, platform, or anyother suitable place. rI his bench or frame may be made of iron or othermetal, wood, or any other suitable material, and has secured to it at ornear its center, by clasps d d at each end or in any other propermanner, a iixed center piece or p1ate,]", corresponding to which inthickness, and at each end of it for the remaining portion, g, of thebench, is a sliding frame or plate,h h, each kept in position by claspsl l, attached to it, passing around and under the bench. At or near theinner end of cach ot' these sliding pieces la h, and upon their undersides, is secured one end of a common belt, in, passing aroundfrictional rollers n n, hung in the apertures o c of the outer end ofthe bench, and through a slot in the cross-shaft q, hung and turning inthe bench, and having a winch-haiidle upon one end of it, as plainlyshown in Fig. 2, so that by turning the said hand le either to the rightorleft the said beltis wound upon its sh aft, thus causing the pieces orplates h h each to move out and away from the iixed center piece of thebench, spiral or other suitable springs being attached to them to drawthem back to their original positions against the IiXed piece when thehand is removed from the winch.

Upon the center-piece, and at or near the outer ends of each slidingpiece, are hung simi lar-shaped semicircular j aws or clasps i" fr, invertical planes, against the upper edges of which, when so desired, thecam-shaped ends s s ot' levers t t, hung upon fulcrums in xed standardsa a of the bench, are brought to bear by simply pulling down upon theirouter ends, thus causing the jaws to be not only brought down and uponthe bench but to be held there.

When the apparatus is to be used the clasps or jaws are iirst all sprungup from the benchslides and center-piece, to which they are secured, asdescribed, and as plainly shown in Fig. 2, and the casing of the collarlaid upon the apparatus, under the jaws, and secured at each end bybringing the jaws or clasps thereat down and upon the saine with thecam-levers. The winch-handle is then turned in the proper direction tocause the slides to move outward and away from thefixed center-piece,thus drawing the casing to a tension, which can be either more or less,as may be desired, where itis retained by interlocking the pawl a? ofthe bench with the teeth of the ratchet-wheel 'v of the winch-shaft. Thecenter clasp is then sprung down and over the collar-casing, when it isready to be stuffed or filled with any of the ordinary materials usedfor such a purpose to the requisite degree ot'hardness, which havingbeen completed the collar is removed from the apparatus and bent orformed into shape in any proper manner.

By means of my improved apparatus it is manifest that horse-collars canbe stuffed with great rapidity and facility, and while at the same timethey are held at the requisite tension, and that, furthermore, it can beaccomplished in so short a time that when the collar is removed from themachine it will be still sufficiently wet or moist as to preclude anypossibility of theleather cracking while being bent or formed intoshape, it being, as is well known, necessary to meisten the leather inorder to K stretch it to any degree of tension.

l Witnesses:

near its center upon two legs, b b,- tlie stationary centerpiece f,slides h h, extension apparatus m q u2 fu, clamps r, and cam-levers s t,all constructed and arranged to operate as and for the purposesspecified.

The above speciiication of my invention signed by me this 1st day ofAugust, 1865.

T. W. MURPHEY.

ALBERT W. BROWN, M. M. LIVINGSTON.

